Woolgatherer: An Entertaining Celebration Of New Writing ~ Adelaide Fringe 2023 Review

[MUSIC/Folk ~ SA] My Lover Cindi, Wed 1 Mar, 2023. The show also now known as The Woolgatherer & Her Lamb features the songwriting talents of performers Steph Daughtry and Alice Barker. Steph is heavily involved in producing and presenting local independent theatre, while Alice is known as part of the Fringe Award-winning band Roger & The Albatross, as well as being a member of Adelaide band Ukulele Death Squad. But they’ve never performed songs in public together before tonight and some nerves are showing. We begin with both performers wrapped in blankets singing a rap-flavoured song about why they did not go to a particular party (“I wanted to learn macrame”) and it’s funny as anything, and perhaps the most theatrical of tonight’s song offerings. From then on it’s a set of songs that Steph has been hiding away, waiting for the right time to share with the public. The lyrics are intimate, clever, and full of whimsy and charm, revealing her anxieties stemming from the pressures of working in an unpredictable arts industry. But wait, there’s more. Alice has added two of her own songs, seemingly late in the piece as they have only recently been written. Alice wittily reveals a bunch of anxieties all her own. Despite the subject matter, the songs are well-crafted, with lyrical interest and musical hooks, delivered with aplomb. Steph and Alice share a great rapport on stage that is contagious. Their knowledge of stagecraft is clearly evident and helps them deal with slight hints of chaos and under-rehearsal. They even ask the audience to tell them off whenever they come across as self-deprecating, to snap them out of it by showering praise. The cosy intimate atmosphere of the venue helps the audience feel quite at home in playing along. This is an entertaining celebration of new writing, what the Fringe was meant to be about.  I would go again…. 3.5 stars Adrian Miller Woolgatherer continues at My Lover Cindi, 223 Flinders St, Adelaide, from 7pm until Mon 6 Mar. Book at Fringetix. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #Clothesline_Mag #ADLFringe